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Krieghoff Auto-33
Krieghoff Krieghoff is a German small arms manufacturer, that was founded in 1886 by Ludwig Krieghoff in Suhl, and taken over by his son Heinrich in 1919. They manufactured weapons for both world wars and overcame the Great Depression through a Dutch big order. During WWII they were on the peak of productivity, with facilities in Suhl and Kinz, and round 6000 employees. After WWII their facilities were dismantled and afterwards blown up. The Krieghoff family restarted hunting and sporting weapon production in the 1950s in Ulm with round 100 employees. Krieghoff Auto-33 The Krieghoff Auto-33 is a recoil-operated semi-automatic shotgun based on Brownings Auto 5 patent, and successor of the Mod.-1914. It comes with a five or three round tubular magazine, that is loaded through a port in the bottom of the receiver. Safety is also important, the Auto-33 features a safety switch mounted into the trigger guard. To set the gun on safe, the safety switch needs to be pushed back into the trigger guard, which blocks trigger and firing pin. If you want to fire, just push the safety switch back to the front with your trigger finger. History Krieghoff first produced this shotgun as a hunting weapon in 1933 an was very successful on the civil market. The reasons for its success were a high rate of fire, five plus one round capacity, ease of use, reliability, low-maintenance, and a modified choke for lower spread and higher precision. The Auto-33.J (J for Jäger, huntsman in English) became a popular hunting and sporting shotgun, and German police as well as military forces showed interest. On an official request by German law enforcement institutions, Heinrich Krieghoff and his gunsmith sat together an tinkered about how to rework their shotgun for law enforcement use. The final solution was simple and effective, as they only shortened the barrel and handguard. Everything else, like iron sights, bolt, choke, trigger, magazine capacity and loading port, stayed untouched. This version entered police service in 1936 an was known as the model Auto-33.P (P for Polizei, police in English). The police version of the Krieghoff Auto-33 also entered service with the German Feldgendarmerie, the military police of the Wehrmacht, in 1937. As WWII started in September 1939, the Feldgendarmerie was well equipped with the Auto-33.P, and some of them found their way into the Wehrmacht arsenal. The Wehrmacht used the Auto-33.P during urban combat situations and was excited about its performance. As war continued, more Krieghoff Auto-33.P were ordered by Wehrmacht officials to equipp special forces such as Kommando Brandenburg and the Fallschirmjäger, close quater combat troops, and POW camp guards. Also the Waffen-SS ordered more than a few Auto-33.P for their concentration camp guards, which made it infamous among the slave laborer and POW in this camps. By 1941, the Kriegsmarine wanted to have a shorter barrel version of the Auto-33.P for their ship security. Krieghoff once again shortened the barrel and named it Auto-33.M (M for Marine, navy in English). This version also became famous along the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, and step by step replaced the Auto-33.P in military service. During the disaster of Stalingrad, the Auto-33.M performed well in room to room combat, but high-ranking Wehrmacht officials saw the need for a even shorter version. This request was sent to Krieghoff, and they started to rework the Auto-33.M. What they came up with, was a three plus one round version with a super short barrel, called Auto-33.G (G for Graben, trench in English). This new version came into service in late 1943 and saw limited service with the Wehrmacht cause the frontline soldiers disliked it. However in Germanies last weeks of WWII, it gained some respect by the defense troops that fought the last stand against the Soviets in Berlin. A folding stock version of the Auto-33.M, called Auto-33.K (K for Kommando, commando in English), never saw combat and stayed a prototype, developped in late 1944 to replace the disliked Auto-33.G. After the war, Krieghoffs facilities in Suhl and Kinz were dismantled by the occupants, and transported to the Soviet Union. The gutted structures were afterwards blown up. By end of the war Krieghoff family settled over to Ulm and restarted producing hunting and sporting weapons in 1950. The Auto-33.J and Auto-33.P stayed one of their top seller. Krieghoff Auto-33 Evolution.png|From top to bottom: 1st prototype, 2nd prototype, 3rd prototype, 4th prototype, and final production model of the Krieghoff Auto-33.J. Krieghoff Auto-33.K.png|The prototype version of a Auto-33.M with folding stock. This model was only produced in limited numbers for testing purpose and never saw combat. Krieghoff Auto-33.M Tactical.png|A last-ditch innovation of Krieghoff were two shell holders, one weld to the receiver, one screwed to the stock. Krieghoff Auto-2000 P and M.png|In 1999 Krieghoff started to modernize the so far unchanged produced Auto.33. The result was its successor, the Auto-2000, that was presented in January 2000. They did changes to the stock, handguard and charging handle, which were now made out of high strength polymer instead of wood. Krieghoff also added a rail to mount optics. The internals stayed untouched and Krieghoff offered its new shotgun as model P and M, referring to its predecessor.